The Puppet Strings, Fruits and Vegetables Tour of QLD

Hello little blog, did you miss me?

I've been neglecting you I know, but I've had many intentions of updating you but never found the words to start.

Right now I'm tucked up on the couch in the villa that we've rented in Noosa. The boys, Gene & Nick, are off hiking in the Noosa National Park while I've chosen to nurse my cold today in the hopes of making the flight home tomorrow more pleasant.

I can't believe we're going home tomorrow! The last month has just flown past. The Fringe Festival was a great experience and we've made many new friends who are promising to come and crash on our couch soon. (Guess we'd better get our act together and get a couch for them to crash on!) The wrap party was at the Spiegeltent (of course) and it was a good night for all. Belgian beer flowed freely into our hands and stomachs. We danced "puppet string" style to ensure the rest of the festival was certain that we were the crazy Fringe crew until 01:30 when I called it a night (as they seemed to be kicking the last of us out of the tent). Gene stayed on until some much later hour as it turned out that they weren't kicking the stragglers out at all.

The day after the Brisbane Festival wrapped up we slept like there was no tomorrow and that took up most of the day. Once we were feeling guilty enough at having achieved nothing that day we went on a greasy chicken hunt (my bad). We were unsuccessful at finding greasy chicken in China Town, go figure, but had a great meal while the surrounding trees threw their seed pods at Nick. We've since been told that these trees are "Leopard Trees". I also discovered that the seed pods rattle when you shake them. Ah yes, still easily amused.

Speaking of which, that evening over a meal of instant noodles and pork balls someone posed the question, is pumpkin or chilli a fruit? I discovered some time last year that pumpkins are berries and yet I considered pumpkins to be vegetables. This was the start of our entire holiday’s conversation. We spent much of the night drinking wine and vodka drinks while discussing the classification of various fruits and vegetables. In short, a chilli is a fruit which we often eat as a spice. Pumpkins are berries and are technically fruits eaten as vegetables. Interestingly a banana is a berry (therefore a fruit) that comes from a herb plant (as it lacks a true stem, I think). Fruits seem to be able to be vegetables as well being fruits (eg. tomatoes are fruits eaten more often than not with/as vegetables) as vegetables can be non-sweet fruits. Nuts are technically fruit except for peanuts which are legumes. I think legumes are in their own category. It’s hard to say. Now I’m not saying this is totally correct, it’s just what our research and discussion has led us to. What would we do without internet cafés and Google?

On Wednesday we departed the world of backpacker hostels to visit the land of four star self-contained villas. So far we like this land. We’re staying at the Ivory Palms Resort in Noosa and it’s gorgeous. There’s something to be said for having your own kitchen and bathroom. Particularly when you keep strange hours. The first thing we did upon arrival was head to the supermarket for supplies. Okay, I lied, the first thing we did was check out the heated pool and spa so we knew where to find it, then we went to get supplies. We headed to the town of Tewantin where we had roast chicken for lunch before heading to the supermarket. I also managed to find the one craft shop in the area and have some pretty shiny beads to show for it.

All in all our days have been spent in the sunshine, poolside, in the spa or playing tennis. Nick’s the reigning tennis champ of our lot while Gene’s forte is pool. I seem to do well at Yahtzee. It just goes to show that everyone has their niche.

We went to the Eumundi Markets yesterday. It was a pleasant mix of tourist and local goods, leaning more towards the local arts and craft. There was a surprising lack of fisherman’s pants and juggling balls being sold, a market staple back home, instead there was an unusually high number of tie-dye and art stalls. I returned with a brown top, some black wrap pants and a hemp scarf. Gene bought me the funkiest pair of silver earrings which look almost impossible to put on but are actually really easy to wear. They’re just a simple silver wire twisted into a spiral with a straight bit down the middle. It’s hard to explain.

After the markets we went to the Ginger (Fun) Factory which was much less fun than it was made out to be. We did find Coulson Road though so we’ve got a few pictures of Nick under his road sign.

Today the boys played tennis and had a swim while I tried to sleep off my cold. They’re armed with a camera to take some pictures of the park which we visited long enough for me to take photos of a koala in a tree yesterday. I couldn’t help it, everyone else was taking a picture of it. I at least had the courtesy not to use a flash and scare the poor thing. It was pretty cute.

Tomorrow we’re going to pick up our bikes and have lunch with Mel before jumping on our plane home. I’ve got a job interview on Tuesday although I may have a potential job offer overseas so who knows where I’ll be in a months time! Life’s pretty exciting at the moment. For once I’m not worried about work and you know what? That’s a great feeling!